Apparent interest from Wigan boss Roberto Martinez this week has signalled a potential loan deal for United youngster Federico Macheda. The news may come as a welcome break to the Italian striker as he has failed to make an impact in the first team this season, with only 2 appearances in the league as of yet. With Wigan struggling for goals, Kiko may be ready to find his feet with a new side and help them in their fight to avoid relegation.
After joining Manchester United officially in September 2007 at the age of 16, it was easy to see the potential in Macheda. He’s strong, powerful and has a great eye for goal, which he demonstrated early on for United, initially by scoring goals for the youth and reserve teams. His major introduction onto the big stage was against Aston Villa, where he won the game in injury time with a fantastic goal, striking the ball inside the post from the edge of the area after losing his marker. He went on to score a couple more goals in the next two seasons, after being given cameo appearances here and there, interspersed with spells of being sidelined through injury, before being sent out on loan to Sampdoria in January 2011.
However, whilst at the struggling Italian side, he failed to impress and ultimately the club suffered a shock relegation from Serie A. Macheda ended his time at Sampdoria without a league goal to his name in 14 appearances. The weight of being given responsibility in the first team with a struggling Serie A side may have been a little to much for him, when the side obviously needed goals on a regular basis. Then again, at Man United he showed confidence and determination beyond his years and appeared ready for a challenging role.
Wigan are in a similar kind of position to that of Sampdoria last season, and need a goalscorer to join their ranks to supplement the likes of Rodallega, Sammon and di Santo who appear to be misfiring slightly. The lack of goals cannot be attributed entirely to the strikers, but they need someone who can create opportunities out of very little and finish them off.
From United’s point of view, sending Macheda on a loan move to Roberto Martinez’s side seems like a wise option. It gives Kiko the chance to play competitive football this season, which he probably wouldn’t see at United bearing in mind how many strikers they have in the running. One of the advantages in sending someone on loan to a team in your division is that your player is given opportunities to score against your rivals, possibly taking points off them, whilst not being able to play against his parent team. With Wigan averaging less than a goal a game, it seems like a perfect opportunity for Macheda to try to recapture his form and show the Premier League what he is capable of if he can play regular football.
When seeing it from Wigan’s side of things, the deal may be a little more risky. Introducing Macheda now is a sign of intention and recognition that they need to score more goals, however Kiko is inexperienced at this level and may not be ready to lead the line. He may be used as a supplementary striker alongside one of the other three. I would love to see him alongside di Santo, a combination which could see pace and flair in abundance, but this could backfire. Macheda is definitely a confidence player and really needs to build up a head of steam to start driving the team forward. If he gets off to a slow start amongst a front line who find goals hard to come by, it may need a strong word and encouragement from Roberto Martinez to rally him and integrate him into the team properly. There’s no doubt Federico has the potential to score goals and provide for the team, but I think the most important thing is making sure his head is in the right place and he is focused on his game.
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